Category Archives: Travel

Planning our next big adventure…

It’s nice to have something to plan for again. As long as nothing big changes, we’ll be heading out on our honeymoon road trip in May after I finish the Spring Semester Finals! Yahoo! Thanks to a good friend, we already have a trip fund started, and we have decided on a route! It’ll be based on two major stops – first, New Orleans and then we’re going to drive to Florida down to the keys for some fun and sun. We’ve never been South or East, so it’ll be a new adventure for both of us. We’ve been working on finding lots of destinations to stop at – museums, weird random things, funky eateries, you name it, so soon it will be time to narrow down our options. I’m looking forward to a leisurely trip, yet I have a feeling it’s going to be jam-packed as well. The hardest part will be figuring out where and when to stop and reserve hotel rooms, so hooray for research (I actually really like research).

Ah, the open road… the thought just might get me through the winter. 😉

Travel to space?

After hearing more and more about Virgin Galactic it makes me wonder whether I would plunk down the cash if I ever had $200,000 to experience being in space for just a few moments really.  I think, if for some reason I had an absurd amount of money to throw around, I would. It’s one of those once in a lifetime experiences after all. I have always wondered what it would be like to go into space, however, since I’ll never have an extra $200k I will probably always have to wonder. Besides, knowing my luck, I’d never make it because I’d get such bad motion sickness. :p

Minnesota Wine

It turns out that Minnesota wine is quite tasty. We’ve only been to one local winery so far, but plan on hitting up a few more, if not this Fall then next year.  Our first winery tour was at Winehaven where they make some fantastic mead among other wines, such as a very tasty Icewine (made from grapes that have been frozen while still on the vine).

 

Overall it was a nice day with an interesting tour. The winery has been in one family, and it turns out, they didn’t always make wine. Their label has a bee because originally the business was all about honey, and would explain why they have such tasty mead, is my guess. We arrived during their Rhubarb festival – the only time of year they make a Rhubarb wine that sells out pretty fast along with their Strawberry Rhubarb wine. We got both bottles and plan on opening them sometime this winter as apparently the Rhubarb, especially, gets an even better flavor around December.

Whistle Stop Bed & Breakfast

After a day of fun in the sun, we were ready to check-in, go find food and then relax for the evening. We immediately perked up as we drove up to the Whistle Stop Bed & Breakfast, though, and looked for our train car. First we went inside the inn to check in and were greeted by Jann (the owner) and one of the friendliest cats I’ve had the pleasure of meeting. It’s a lovely inn, with beautiful sitting areas that host a variety of social gatherings such as book club meetings and tea parties, and you can see why – it’s a cozy and inviting space with a victorian flair – large floral prints, dark stained wood and oil lamps.

  

We were given the key to The Imperial car and were told breakfast would be brought out to us the next morning, before heading outside like the excited kids that we are. We opened the door that led into a small kitchen area and walked inside. There were so many tiny details to take in! The original lead windows, the decorating, it was all so well done and you could see how much love and attention went into it. From the steamer trunks to the velvet cushions in the breakfast nook, it was all just perfect. We looked at everything, including the random collection of VHS tapes next to the tiny TV for guest’s viewing pleasure and hats and gloves tucked away in overhead storage. In one corner of the car was a nice gas stove, and for once I wished that it was colder outside so we could snuggle up in front of it. Perhaps a new winter destination?

By far one of our favorite areas of the train car was the bathroom and the nice whirlpool tub. We soaked and drank champagne before wrapping ourselves in the nice big bathrobes provided and sat down to watch a movie whilst eating leftover wedding cake and finishing off the bottle. Then it was off to sleep in the comfy brass bed! One thing to remember about sleeping at the Whistle Stop… you will actually wake up feeling like you’re on a train, and not just because you’re in a train car. About every 30 minutes a train would make it’s way through town blowing the whistle. We didn’t wake up at every whistle, but I think we each probably woke up at least 3 or 4 times.

Over a delicious breakfast the next morning, we signed the guest book journal, and flipped through the highly entertaining photo album left in the room. Jann and her husband had created an album documenting all of the work that went into making the Whistle Stop B&B, and it was so neat to see the whole process while stuffing ourselves with yummy blueberry goodness. After eating, we loaded up and said our good-byes, but not before checking out the other train cars (at Jann’s suggestion). Each one has so much character and we’d love to stay in them all, especially the newest, which wasn’t yet complete. We peeked inside and got a little tour from one of the men working on it, whom we discovered was from Durango, Colorado (where I’m from and where we met)! It never ceases to amaze me how small the world can be. The new car promises to be very luxurious, with an added sauna, and I only hope we can get back there soon!

So, now it’s onward to our next adventure, and soon I shall have actual pictures up of our wedding, which we thought was rather spectacular.

Paul Bunyan Land!

When planning our mini-moon, we knew we would need something to do after we checked out of the Nordic Inn, so we decided that Paul Bunyan Land and This Old Farm Pioneer Village (conveniently located within PBL) in Brainerd, MN would be the perfect way to spend a few hours. We weren’t disappointed. This Old Farm had dozens of building, and each was one packed with antiques of every sort – a veritble plethora. There were cars, creepy dolls, printing machines, cameras, clocks, farm equipment, lunchboxes, some of the biggest lures I’ve ever seen in my life, Avon collections, gas pumps, and more!

 

 

One of the first things you see as you walk into Paul Bunyan Land, is Paul Bunyan, himself, who greeted Josh immediately and commented on his awesome green shoes, (You have the option to give your name while purchasing tickets). After chatting with good ‘ole Paul, we began wandering around. There was a small petting zoo where most of the animals ignored us aside from some ponies and a very friendly goat, so we gave up a quarter to give out treats and then went to check out the animated whatchamacallums – you put in a quarter and figures come to life while a jolly sounding mountain man tells you a little bit about Paul and Babe.

 

We decided to ride the ferris wheel, and scope out the lay of the land and as we savored our delicious frozen treats, we decided to go on all of the rides. Have I mentioned I’ve never done bumper cars?  Well, I finally got to and had bruises to prove it, or was that from the roller coaster that we barely fit into? I advise padding either way.

I imagine the park isn’t always so low on staff, but we found ourselves wandering into “rides” a few times without attendants when perhaps we should have waited?  The haunted house proved to be a tricky endeavor as it was incredibly dark as we felt our way along walls and tried not to fall down steps before exiting out what could only be the wrong door, however, had we not, we might have completely missed the park dinosaurs. The beasts, though timid, were quick to show their curiousity and luckily we managed to make a quick exit before Josh lost an arm… or his head.

  

Overall, we had a fun time – I recommend you go when you feel like indulging your inner child, otherwise you may not enjoy it as much – we explored, we laughed, we bought souvinirs (we now both have very stylish PBL hoodies) and then we headed onward to Pirate’s Cove for some miniature golf and go-cart action.

I was actually a little suprised at just how busy Pirate’s Cove was for a Monday, but as we were in no hurry, we had no problems with the waiting. There was plenty to look at in between holes and shady benches to sit on. There were 2 different courses to choose from, one of which leads you through a pirate’s ship, but we chose the other route that led us past a waterfall and cannons that shot water out at unsuspecting passersby. While the holes weren’t tremendously difficult, there were a few tricky shots, but I managed to get a hole in one, which allows you to spin a wheel at the end. I’m assuming you win a prize if you land on the right number, but I was one off, so we’ll just have to imagine what we might have won. It was then off to race Go-Carts and then we headed towards to our next destination – The Whistlestop Bed & Breakfast in New York Mills.

To be continued…